The Axewomen are one of 11 senior AAA-calibre girls’ teams taking part in the 18th annual event. A total of 12 boys’ teams will also compete.

“It’s a good opportunity because it’s before the (P.E.I. School Athletic Association) season (gets underway), and allows us to play some games to help us get ready,” said Axewomen co-captain Rachel Murray, who plays the standoff position.

The tournament is held in memory of the late David Voye, who was a music teacher and a driving force in the development of the rugby program at Three Oaks.

Format

The girls’ portion of the tournament features three pools of three teams. Three Oaks and Northumberland make up the other pool, and those teams will meet on Friday at 5 p.m.

The winner of Three Oaks-Northumberland game, along with the first-place teams in the other three pools, will advance to the semifinals on Saturday at 10 a.m. The girls’ championship game is scheduled for 2 p.m.

“We have a lot of young players, and it’s like a learning process this weekend,” said Axewomen co-captain and 8-man Lauren Sheidow.

Head coach Matt Champion admitted the Axewomen have a younger team compared to last year.

“We have seven Grade 12s, which is relatively low, but everyone is working hard for sure and we’re all getting a good quality of rugby in,” added Champion, who is looking for his team to gain valuable experience this weekend.

Second tournament

This will mark the second tournament of the season for the Axewomen, who went 0-3 (won-lost) at the recent RugbyFest 2014 in Rothesay, N.B. Three Oaks lost 15-5 against St. Malachy’s High, 13-12 to Riverview High School from New Brunswick and 5-0 to Avon View High School, which lost last year’s Voye tournament final 36-5 to the Axewomen.

“We did go 0-3, but every single game was within a couple of points,” said Champion, who is assisted by last year’s head coach, Tim Hockin. “It was frustrating in that the team that won it we had lost to by five (points), and we lost a couple of other games that we could have won.

“We have seven Grade 12s, which is relatively low, but everyone is working hard for sure and we’re all getting a good quality of rugby in."Axewomen head coach Matt Champion

“The girls played some amazing defence, and that will hopefully transfer into some good offence. . . We have worked a lot on transferring the ball into an offensive possession from playing a defensive game.”